Control of types of dogs that are considered to be dangerous.

• The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
• The Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997

Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 prohibits four types of dog:

• the Pit Bull Terrier
• the Japanese tosa
• the Dogo Argentino
• the Fila Brasileiro

It is an offence to own or keep any of the above types of dog, unless it is on the Index of Exempted Dogs and is in compliance with the requirements. In any event it is an offence to breed from, sell or exchange (even as a gift) such a dog, irrespective of whether it has been placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs. Page 3 of Annex A provides further details about the Index.

It is important to note that, in the UK, dangerous dogs are classified by “type”, not by breed label. This means that whether a dog is considered dangerous, and therefore prohibited, will depend on a judgment about its physical characteristics, and whether they match the description of a prohibited 'type'. This assessment of the physical characteristics is made by a court. A leaflet providing guidance on the physical characteristics that a court would consider in reaching its judgement can be found below.

The 1991 Act was amended by the Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997. The 1997 Act removed the mandatory destruction order provisions of the 1991 Act by giving the courts discretion on sentencing, and re-opened the Index of Exempted Dogs for those prohibited dogs which the courts consider would not pose a risk to the public. Only courts can direct that a dog can be placed on the list of exempted dogs.

Section 3 of the 1991 Act created a new offence of being an owner of a dog of any type or breed which is dangerously out of control in a public place or a non-public place in which it is not permitted to be.

• Information on Wolf-dog hybrids can be found on the Wildlife and Countryside pages of the Defra website.

Prohibited Types of Dog

Leaflet: Types of dogs prohibited in Great Britain - Guidance on the types of dogs prohibited in Great Britain. It also explains the impact of the legislation on dogs being brought into Great Britain.

The leaflet is aimed at both enforcement agencies and members of the public who would like to bring their dog into Great Britain via the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) but are unsure whether their animal is banned from Great Britain.

Hard copies can be obtained from Defra Publications, Admail 6000, London, SW1A 2XX. Tel: 08459 556000. Quote product code PB8311.

Detailed guidance on the legislation was issued to police forces and the courts between 1991 and 1998 by the Home Office. The guidance issued can be found below:

• Home Office Notice
• Home Office Circular 67/1991
• Home Office Circular 80/1992
• Home Office Circular 9/1994
• Home Office Circular 17/1997
• Home Office Circular 29/1997
• Home Office Circular 29/1998

Overseas legislation on prohibited types of dog

If you need to know the law on prohibited types of dogs in other countries, then please check with the British Embassy in the country concerned.

Dogs out of control in a public place

If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place - then the owner or the person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person, an aggravated offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. In proceedings against a person who is the owner of a dog but at the material time was not in charge of it, it should be a defence for the accused to prove that the dog was at the material time in the charge of a person whom he reasonably believed to be a fit and proper person to be in charge of it.

Section 10(2) of the 1991 Act defines a public place as meaning any street, road or other place to which the public have, or are permitted to have access. This is a wide definition of a public place and one which specifically includes the common parts of a building containing two or more dwellings. It is intended to cover, for instance, those parts of a block of flats where, although there may be a secure front entry door so that the interior of the flat is not a place to which the public has unrestricted access, nevertheless the common parts are, in all other respects, a public place.

A person found guilty of an offence may face imprisonment or a fine, and the courts may disqualify the offender from having custody of a dog for any period.